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While on safari in Africa there were several favorite words that I learned and their meanings one of which was "Safari." In Swahili, safari means journey and I have truly enjoyed sharing this journey with everyone and I hope everyone is enjoying it as much as Jon and I are. The simple truth is even this race is just the beginning of what hopes to be a very long journey for CALIFORNIA'S BEST RACING and Lucky since we are already considering future events.
Can you believe it... On Monday it will only be ONE WEEK until we leave for Mexico! I really feel good about it and have looked forward to it for what seems like an eternity. One thing I will miss is having Jon along with us on the drive down and back. Jon has been an amazing asset to the preparation, research and support in preparing for all that has taken place to get us this far along. Thanks Jon. Jon will be flying down to Mexico along with the cameramen and equipment and will meet up with us when they gets there. It will be a long drive but one hell of an adventure, I'm sure. I am positive there will be lots to see and take in, customs to learn and traditions to experience, something that is missed when flying.
One thing Jon and I will miss terribly is getting to take part in seeing his daughter, Natalie and my grandson, Tyler Gene go Trick Or Treating on Halloween now that he will be 16 months old.
Speaking of traditions... One of the oldest of all traditions in Mexico dates back over more than 500 years, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico and they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death. No, it's not the La Carrera Panamericana even though after having read volumes about the La Carrera it might sound like it. It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. It is a ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
Today, people don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake. Does this sound like the thoughts of a race car driver or what? The Spaniards considered the ritual to be sacrilegious. They perceived the indigenous people to be barbaric and pagan so in their attempts to convert them to Catholicism, the Spaniards tried to kill the ritual. But like the old Aztec spirits, the ritual refused to die. To make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards moved it so it coincided with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day which is while we are finishing the La Carrera Panamericana.... A time to celebrate.
2 comments:
Time for the fun to begin! ... do you have your accoutrements in order? Your battle is over, now you only need to worry about making new friends and making it down the road. Win, Loss or WTF just happened ... La C is a place of friendship!
A song some may whistle from time to time during La C after a night of bonding!:
Plastic Jesus:
I don't care if it rains of freezes
'Long as I got my Plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car.
Through my trials and tribulations
And my travels through the nations
With my Plastic Jesus I'll go far.
Plastic Jesus! Plastic Jesus,
Riding on the dashboard of my car
I'm afraid He'll have to go.
His magnets ruin my radio
And if I have a wreck He'll leave a scar.
Riding down a thoroughfare
With His nose up in the air,
A wreck may be ahead, but He don't mind.
Trouble coming He don't see,
He just keeps His eye on me
And any other thing that lies behind.
Plastic Jesus! Plastic Jesus,
Riding on the dashboard of my car ...
Though the sunshine on His back
Make Him peel, chip and crack,
A little patching keeps Him up to par.
When I'm in a traffic jam
He don't care if I say "damn"
I can let all my curses roll
Plastic Jesus doesn't hear
'Cause he has a plastic ear
The man who invented plastic saved my soul.
Plastic Jesus! Plastic Jesus,
Riding on the dashboard of my car ...
Once His robe was snowy white,
Now it isn't quite so bright -
Stained by the smoke of my cigar.
If I weave around at night,
And policemen think I'm tight,
They never find my bottle - though they ask.
Plastic Jesus shelters me,
For His head comes off, you see
He's hollow, and I use Him for a flask.
Plastic Jesus! Plastic Jesus,
Riding on the dashboard of my car ...
Ride with me and have a dram
Of the blood of the Lamb -
Plastic Jesus is a holy bar.
Sounds like our kind of place because we make friends where ever we go so we should fit right in. Just promise me that nobody is going to do the Macarena and we'll be just fine.
I remember that song all too well.
I see your class is growing extremly well and I personally believe it really adds nicely to the entire experience. You're doing a nice job.
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